Pawternity Leave: The new employee perk for dog lovers

Scottish brewer Brewdog, recently valued at £1bn, announced that any employee with a puppy or rescue dog will be entitled to one week’s paid leave

Pawternity leave is the new staff benefit scheme guaranteed to be a hit with dog lovers world over.

Many UK puppy owning employees will be familiar with the feeling of watching the clock and counting down the minutes until they can give their new furry friend a loving embrace.

But for those hapless pet owners the wait is over.

The new “pawternity” schemes allow owners to schedule in more bonding time with their puppies and pets away from work, getting them properly settled into their new homes.

Scottish beer company Brewdog, recently valued at £1bn, announced that any employee with a puppy or rescue dog will be entitled to one week’s paid leave.

Gia Nigro, a Brewdog employee from Ohio, and Rye, her nine-week-old goldendoodle puppy, will be one of the first sets of companions to reap in the scheme’s benefits.

“The policy gives me the flexibility to choose when to take a fully paid week off with Rye, which I'll be doing next month to get her fully house trained”, Nigro told the BBC.

Brewdog named the scheme ‘pawternity’ and unveiled it to the world in tandem with their press release that also announced the opening of the company’s new 100,000 square foot brewery and bar in Columbus.

Glenn Selig, a Florida based PR expert, told the BBC that he thought the scheme was a “really neat idea.”

“You might remember it next time you’re sitting in a bar and someone mentions Brewdog,” he added.

While Brewdog also lets employees bring their dogs to work, it is not alone in offering the holiday perk with Mars Petcare also offering pet owning employees ten hours of paid leave. The Manchester-based tech company BitSol Solutions has also followed suit, offering a week’s paid leave to new pet owners, according to Business Insider.

According to research from Petplan, five per cent of pet owners have been offered paid leave from their job to take more responsibility of their duties, leaving them more time to focus on the vital work of house training, vet appointments and the ever important early snuggles.